Greece: Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party Forges German Links

Greek far-right party activists meet racist counterparts in Bavaria

The Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has established contacts with rightwing extremists in Germany's southeastern state of Bavaria, according to major German news outlets.

In the aftermath of 30,000 neo-Nazis marching through the streets of central Athens to honour three "fallen heroes" of the party, Der Spiegel reported that Golden Dawn activists had met their Nazi counterparts in Bavaria.

"Golden Dawn has an international network of contacts and also has contacts with Bavarian neo-Nazis," a spokesman for the Bavarian arm of the Federal Office of the Protection of the Constitution told Der Spiegel. "These contacts are nurtured through mutual visits and at meetings at right-wing extremist events in Europe."

Golden Dawn announced the creation in December of a cell in Nuremberg, the city where infamous racial laws against Jews were adopted during Hitler's rise to power. Because of the city's relevance to the Holy Roman Empire, Hitler chose it as the site for Nazi party conventions. After the 1935 rally, Hitler ordered the Reichstag to convene in the city to pass the anti-Semitic Nuremberg laws, which revoked German citizenship of all Jews.

The Federation of Greek Communities in Germany said the decision by Golden Dawn to open a local branch was "insulting".

"The establishment of a Golden Dawn branch in Nuremberg is an attack and a disgrace for Greece and Europe," it said.

The vigilante far-right movement has begun spreading its anti-immigration message in schools and youth clubs, and through online social media networks, according to recent reports in the international press.